Share Your Signature Dish!

I'm a lousy cook. I live alone and would like to spend more time cooking than eating out. Not big on veggies. More a meat and potatoes guy. Do you have a dish that everyone compliments you on which can be made by someone like me? I like chicken and steak, barbecue, stuff like that. Also looking for tips on sauces and gravy. If you have a signature dish that's easy, please share it here. TIA.

I brown ground beef in a pan and stir in some kind of canned tomato sauce - I choose tomato and basil sauce. Then I mix in cooked or canned vegetables - either green beans, corn and/or carrots. Keep stirring and heating until well mixed.

Potatoes are boiling at the same time and when they're done, I mash them with some butter. Pour the beef mixture into a baking dish and then spread the potatoes on top. I take a fork and run the tines across the top to make trails in the potatoes. Then I stick it under the broiling element until the potatoes turn a little brown.

You can serve that with a green salad or some crusty rolls. Very good on a cold day.

by Anonymous

reply 5

10/11/2018

Pancakes Barbara!

by Anonymous

reply 6

10/11/2018

[quote]Share Your Signature Dish!

Go fuck yourself.

by Anonymous

reply 7

10/11/2018

Chicken Paprikash

When I feel everybody hates me, it's because I forget that I make friends for life with this dish and hardly have anyone over. The recipe I use is from the 1990s print zine [italic]Bunnyhop[/italic], from "Recipes That Will Get You LAID!", but I know lots of DLers are in the metropolitan NYC area, so here you go:

by Anonymous

reply 8

10/11/2018

As OP asked for hint with sauce:

No gravy I made ever suffered from too much butter.

by Anonymous

reply 9

10/11/2018

R5 That is not a Shepherd's Pie. Shepherd's Pie is made with lamb.

What you've got there is a disgusting approximation of a Cottage Pie, though a Cottage Pie is baked in the oven.

by Anonymous

reply 10

10/11/2018

that's what school cafeterias used to serve

by Anonymous

reply 11

10/11/2018

Sounds delish anyway cottage or shepherds R5

by Anonymous

reply 12

10/11/2018

That looks easy and delicious, r8. Thanks.

by Anonymous

reply 13

10/11/2018

It’s the troll who wants recipes for stews and soups when the weather turns cold.

Recipe begging was very big on DL, then not. Now it’s back. I’m guessing the Recipe Begging Troll was hospitalized for mental issues, or was in prison and is out now,

by Anonymous

reply 14

10/11/2018

In the United States and Canada Shepherd's Pie is commonly made with ground beef. Honestly the recipe has evolved even in England. Originally it wouldn't have been made with ground lamb but leftover roast mutton.

My favorite dish to serve for friends is Crescent Dragonwagon's Cuban Black Bean Soup. Serve with a tossed salad with her jalapeno honey dressing. I also might make a low carb vegan cornbread. It's not really cornbread - you use almond flour instead of cornmeal. All are next to impossible to screw up.

by Anonymous

reply 15

10/11/2018

Stuffed Mirlitons with Shrimp and Crabmeat.

by Anonymous

reply 16

10/11/2018

OP, go for one of these tasty suggestions. Especially the Lakeside Pufflepot.

by Anonymous

reply 17

10/11/2018

R15 A Shepherd's Pie made with beef is a Cottage Pie. They are two separate things with two different names.

by Anonymous

reply 18

10/11/2018

Cottage Pie va Shepherds Pie: the new How Do You Drain Your Pasta debate

by Anonymous

reply 19

10/11/2018

I have Canadian cookbooks that use the entree title "Shepherd's Pie" or "Pǎté chinois" (Quebec) for the pie made with ground beef. Are the people arguing that the ground beef with mashed potatoes dish is Cottage Pie in Australia and/or the UK?

I have an idea that some invested in this Shepherd' s Pie vs Cottage Pie debate will like: as only three countries in the world don't use metric units, let's say all their recipes with non-metric measurements of ingredients are wrong.

Another fun item to throw at the debaters: is the New York Times food editors' name of this recipe correct, or incorrect?

by Anonymous

reply 20

10/11/2018

Pot roast is the easiest thing in the world to make. I make it in a slow cooker on low letting it cook all day.

Use enough new red potatoes, well scrubbed and unpeeled, to cover the bottom of the crock pot. Add baby carrots. Quarter and onion, peel off the outer skin and throw that in there.

Season the rump roast with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Brown in vegetable oil in a pan on the stove on all sides. Put on top of potatoes, carrots and onions. Add a few dashes of low-sodium Worcestershire sauce. Pour a half cup of water and a third of a cup red wine (optional, use more water if you don't want to add wine). Set on low, it can cook all day - I've left it cooking for 10+ hours.

Take it all out of the pot, let the meat rest a bit before slicing. Whisk in a teaspoon of flour or cornstarch to the liquid in the pot to thicken the gravy, add more if needed.

I get several meals out of this, pot roast sandwiches, and usually finish up the end of it in a beef barley soup made with a store-bought box of beef broth.

You can also freeze leftovers.

I've timed the prep time and it takes 7 minutes to throw this together. It would take a few minutes more if you wanted to peel potatoes and carrots but still a wonderfully easy meal to prepare and clean up from.

by Anonymous

reply 21

10/11/2018

R8 and all you other link queens, note that NYT Cooking is now and has been for about a year, a $ubscription-only site. How about you just tell us your 90s recipe?

r22 I regret the error. I am NOT logged into either NYT Cooking (not subscribed), nor NYT Puzzles (subscribed), and am seeing the NYT Cooking recipes. I asked members of a small online channel to test the link and it's paywalled for them with both incognito and regular browser sessions, replicating your experience. Either the content's open to me because the NYT retained my IP address outside of my session, or I'm one of those non-humans mentioned in another thread. ("I knew he was an alien because he could see paywalled content without being a Premium Subscriber")

by Anonymous

reply 27

10/11/2018

R27, you are way too polite for DL. But thank you for the civility.

by Anonymous

reply 28

10/11/2018

yes, r28 you are right about the politeness. I am Canadian, and I wonder if my toggling my search engine nation setting to Canada delivered the NY Times paywall content free, as another person I queried is seeing the NYTimes Cooking recipe URLs without paywall or registration and she's browsing from a Germany IP address. She and I also are using Firefox with Privacy Badger and uBlock Origin; and for Chrome users, 'Behind The Overlay' browser extension. Just in case anyone wants to see if they can get the NYT Cooking pages without paying by tweaking their VPN or proxy URL settings.

by Anonymous

reply 29

10/11/2018

Frito pie! Dump canned chili into a bowl, put cheese whiz on it and sour cream and you’ve got a world class dish

by Anonymous

reply 30

10/11/2018

Oops, for got to add the Fritos on top. Open bag, dump in bowl atop the other stuff

by Anonymous

reply 31

10/11/2018

I am known far and wide for my creamy desserts. Rosewater panna cotta on a dust of pistachio praline, with a little drizzle of lemon syrup.

Go buy an organic guaranteed to be really free range chicken raised in air and sunshine. Put it in a baking bag with chopped up seasonal vegetables and bake it.

by Anonymous

reply 34

10/11/2018

I also like to buy ridiculously expensive high quality beef - from hamburger to steak, and sear it in a pan and eat with potatoes cooked simply and extremely fresh butter and salt and pepper.

See how easy this is? Just takes some cash. It's important you put these things on a nice plate and concentrate on it when you eat it and taste the real food aspect. A glass of wine wouldn't hurt.

by Anonymous

reply 35

10/11/2018

35 replies and no one has mentioned my Cup-a, Cup-a Cup-a

by Anonymous

reply 36

10/11/2018

Can't beat some top quality beef, with just butter and seasoning, and maybe a little garlic. Or an organic, field-raised chicken. I eat less meat than I used to, but I get the best quality I can find. It invariably tastes better.

by Anonymous

reply 37

10/11/2018

Debate fags, how do you explain that the English pub down the street from me, owned by a Brit, calls his beef and potatoes pile shepherd's pie?

by Anonymous

reply 38

10/11/2018

He's probably not from Yorkshire.

by Anonymous

reply 39

10/11/2018

Chicken piccata. Thin chicken breast dredged in flour seasoned with salt and pepper and fried in butter and olive oil. The cooking is finished in sauce of white wine, chicken broth, lemon juice, capers, and finished with parsley. Lots of recipes out there with and without white wine. I prefer to use white wine because it's best for deglazing the pan to get all of the delicious bits of browned flour and chicken from the pan giving a more flavorful sauce. You can add sliced sauteed mushrooms that absorb the flavor.

by Anonymous

reply 40

10/11/2018

R29 and polite foreign others, I just tried to get into NYT Cooking with a German VPN, and although it almost lets me in, it still requires a login for a free account (an option not available to US users), and it won't accept a throwaway email address. It's pushing for Facebook or Google login. So, it's still a no-go and I'm not going to try any harder. NYT has probably given up on the American market, since we are all pissed off at the paper's efforts on behalf of Trump, and it's now pandering to potential overseas subscribers. If the paprikash recipe is that good, provide it here. Thanks.

Red wine works just as well as white for deglazing. Don't know why someone would post otherwise.

by Anonymous

reply 44

10/11/2018

[R15] i want your recipe for this entire meal, including the soup, cornbread and the homemade dressing.

You say, you use almond flour in the corn bread recipe?

This is a meal that is perfect for fall.

by Anonymous

reply 45

10/11/2018

Chicken Paprikash (from R8)

YIELD Serves 4-6 TIME1 hour

Michael Kraus for The New York Times

Spices lose their flavor over time but few as quickly as paprika, which starts out tasting of pepper and sunshine but deteriorates in but a few months to sawdust and bitterness. For this recipe, get some new at the market: sweet or hot Hungarian paprika is best, but the generic article isn’t terrible and the smoky Spanish varieties known as pimentón de La Vera would not be out of place either, lending a deep, woodsy aroma reminiscent of cooking over an open fire. It’s a dish that pairs beautifully with butter-slicked egg noodles.

PREPARATION Heat oven to 400. Season the chicken aggressively with salt and pepper. Heat the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large, heavy, oven-safe sauté pan or Dutch oven set over high flame, until the butter is foaming. Sear the chicken in batches, skin-side down, until it is golden and crisp, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Then turn the chicken over, and repeat on the other side, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate to rest.

Pour off all but a tablespoon or 2 of the accumulated fat in the pot. Return the pot to the stove, over medium heat, and add the onion. Cook, stirring frequently with a spoon to scrape off any browned bits of chicken skin, until the onion has softened and gone translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Add the garlic, and stir again, cooking it until it has softened, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the paprika and the flour, and stir well to combine, then cook until the mixture is fragrant and the taste of the flour has been cooked out, approximately 4 to 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes and broth, whisk until smooth and then nestle the chicken back in the pan, skin-side up. Slide the pan or pot into the oven, and cook until the chicken has cooked through and the sauce has thickened slightly, approximately 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, set a large pot of heavily salted water to boil over high heat. Cook noodles in the water until they are almost completely tender, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Drain the noodles, and toss them in a bowl with the remaining butter, then toss again to coat.

Place the chicken on top of the noodles, then add the sour cream to the sauce, stir to combine and ladle it over the whole.

by Anonymous

reply 46

10/11/2018

[quote]I also might make a low carb vegan cornbread. It's not really cornbread - you use almond flour instead of cornmeal.

Then don't call it cornbread, you fucking nincompoop.

by Anonymous

reply 47

10/11/2018

More!

by Anonymous

reply 48

10/11/2018

My mother was English, moved to Canada and she always used ground beef and called it Shepherd's Pie. I never heard her call it Cottage Pie.

by Anonymous

reply 49

10/11/2018

Beef Stroganoff

1 lb beef, sliced thin and cut into 1 - 2 inch pieces (ribeye or NY strip is best, but you can use sirloin)

3 Tablespoons oil or butter

1 medium onion, cut into slices

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 lb fresh sliced mushrooms

2 cups beef broth (if you must, make a strong broth with bouillon and hot water)

Put the flour in a small bowl and slowly stir about 1/2 cup of the beef broth into it, stirring constantly. Set by the stove.

Saute the onion and mushrooms in the oil or butter until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms begin to brown. Add minced garlic and beef, cook and stir another 1-2 minutes until the meat is cooked. Pour in the 1 1/2 cups beef stock. Stir in the flour/beef stock mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Turn down heat, stir in sour cream. Serve over noodles or rice or potatoes.

by Anonymous

reply 50

10/11/2018

Try this one- chicken in pink sauce. 1lb 2oz can pureed tomatoes 3 oz butter 1 chicken cut in to pieces 6 fl oz white wine 17 fl oz milk Salt and pepper Boiled rice to serve Melt the butter and brown the chicken all over. Add the tomatoes wine and milk, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook over a medium heat for 1 1/2 hours. The sauce looks disgusting to start with then emulsifies back into a lovely tasty sauce.

by Anonymous

reply 51

10/11/2018

Well, I take two cans of tuna fish and put them through the meat-grinder, then add clam juice and peanut butter. It's a recipe I cut out of the Ladies Home Journal.

Thank you R46 and R50. Maybe we should transfer all of NYT Cooking's recipes to the Datalounge.

by Anonymous

reply 56

10/11/2018

R54, see R49.

What about hachis parmentier?

by Anonymous

reply 57

10/11/2018

[quote]Go buy an organic guaranteed to be really free range chicken raised in air and sunshine. Put it in a baking bag with chopped up seasonal vegetables and bake it.

Shouldn't you kill the chicken first?

by Anonymous

reply 58

10/11/2018

R53 Exactly my thought too!

by Anonymous

reply 59

10/11/2018

[quote]Red wine works just as well as white for deglazing. Don't know why someone would post otherwise.

Because deglazing with a red wine would be an abomination for Chicken Piccata?

by Anonymous

reply 60

10/11/2018

One slice of fresh white bread

Spread peanut butter on it

Another slice of white bread

Spread marshmallow cream on it

Add 1/2 sliced banana to the peanut side

Put them together and enjoy.

Goes good with cold milk.

If you have a large gathering make them bring their own bananas.

by Anonymous

reply 61

10/11/2018

In our family family, the traditional sandwich since the 16th century has been 2 slices white bread,spread each slice with peanut butter, then place strips of cooked, drained bacon in the middle. To really feel nostalgic, I put my milk carton outside in winter, let the milk freeze solid, then frantically use a paper straw to try and break up the ice milk so I can have a mouthful of something to drink because we only had 15 minutes for lunch in our catholic school (where milk was delivered at 5 am and let to sit outside till noon).

Ah, good times.

by Anonymous

reply 62

10/11/2018

As requested:

[bold]Chicken Paprikash[/bold]

(my version, not the pay-walled NY Times version)

Servings: 2

Consider serving this chicken dish with a red wine. Although chicken calls for white wine, the thick red bell pepper sauce goes much better with a good Cabernet.

6. Simmer and reduce, covered. Cook until the chicken comes off the bone with a fork, no less than 45 minutes.

7. Add sour cream to sauce before serving.

Recommendation in original recipe is to serve chicken on a bed of spiced rice or dry pasta heated in olive oil and tossed with red pepper and breadcrumbs. I don't do that, but I still get laid.

by Anonymous

reply 63

10/11/2018

Citrus salmon 1 or 2 large boneless fillets of salmon

Sauce on low to medium heat, put olive oil and butter until butter is melted (2 TBS of each). chop garlic or use finely chopped jarred garlic about 1 TBS. Some fresh basil and dill. 1 large lemon squeezed. 1 2.5 oz jar of non-pareil capers. 2 heaping TBS of dijon mustard. salt and pepper to taste (capers and mustard both have salt in them).

heat sauce over stove at low or medium low until nicely hot and blended.

Position salmon fillets over a large piece of aluminum foil (one piece for each fillet). pour 1/2 of sauce over each fillet.. Make a nice packet of the aluminum foil so that the fish is completely sealed in. Either put on hot grill or in a hot oven (about 375-400) for about 20 minutes . check the fish. If the inside is not completely cooked, cook uncovered for about 5 more minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pat chicken dry. Rub all over with garlic cloves; place garlic in cavity. Squeeze lemon into small bowl; place both lemon halves in chicken cavity. Brush chicken with half of juice. Mix spices and salt and rub over and inside chicken. Tie chicken legs together. Heat oil in heavy large ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add chicken to skillet, breast side up. Add remaining lemon juice to skillet. Baste chicken with pan juices. Transfer to oven. Bake until juices run clear when chicken is pierced in thickest part of thigh, basting occasionally, about 1 hour. Discard string. Serve chicken hot, cold, or room temperature.

by Anonymous

reply 65

10/11/2018

Cut up artichokes hearts, Hellman's Mayo, garlic powder and Parmesan Cheese in the green can. Best artichoke dip ever and people go nuts over it.

My husband is British and he says cottage pie is just shepherds pie with cheese on top.

by Anonymous

reply 68

10/11/2018

When I scrolled past the photo in the OP's post, I thought: "I really don't want to see Donald Trump naked even if he's lost all that weight."

by Anonymous

reply 69

10/12/2018

R68, he may be thinking of Cumberland pie, which is acceptably made with either beef or lamb, and has a layer of cheese on the top. The cheese is usually mixed with breadcrumbs to make a crunchy topping. It's one of my favourite comfort foods. Nom.

by Anonymous

reply 70

10/12/2018

The clue's in the name - Shepherd's Pie is made with lamb.

If it's made with beef, it's not Shepherd's Pie.

by Anonymous

reply 71

10/12/2018

Jesus Christ, the shepard’s pie troll needs to take a fucking nap. In North America, Shepard’s pie is most often served with ground beef. Try to process that and move on.

by Anonymous

reply 72

10/12/2018

People who think Parmesan comes “in a green can” make me sad.

by Anonymous

reply 73

10/12/2018

Here's a dead simple steak dish for the OP. My variant on this dish: skip the rosemary and the garlic, add 2-3 splashes of Worcestershire to softened unsalted butter. Instead of putting the thyme sprigs in the pan, brush the sprigs in the melted butter in the hot pan and stroke the sides of the steak.

Butter Basted Rib Eye Steaks

by Anonymous

reply 74

10/12/2018

I went researching. At least, I went researching as far as Wikipedia. Its article on sheperd's pie is amusingly detailed, and stacked with references.

The earliest reference is to cottage pie, and shepherd's pie is a name only dating back to the mid 19th century. In both cases, there was never a distinction made between pies made of mutton or beef, although it became common to refer to a mutton pie as a 'shepherd's pie'. This distinction is now common in the UK, but it is of relatively recent origin.

So it would appear that the American usage is the original.

by Anonymous

reply 75

10/12/2018

R70- So the cheese replaces the layer of potatoes or do you put the cheese on top of the potatoes?

by Anonymous

reply 76

10/12/2018

R76, there are different ways, all good. My favourite is a layer of mashed potato first, then make a mixture of finely-grated Cheddar cheese and breadcrumbs with a little bit of mashed potato for binding, and spread it evenly on top. For extra luxuriousness, add some Parmesan to the mix, and if you want to get laid mix in a little cream.

I'm making myself hungry now.

by Anonymous

reply 77

10/12/2018

I'm eating only brussel sprouts this weekend.

by Anonymous

reply 78

10/12/2018

Poached halibut. Mince up some fresh garlic, tomatoes, and jalapeno pepper. Sautee all of this in a pan with salt to taste. Salt and pepper the chunk of halibut nicely. Grab a lime, and zest it. After the tomato mixture has come to a soft boil, put the halibut in there, cover it with the mixture and the lime zest, and then squeeze all the lime juice in there as well. Cover with a lid, turn down to almost-minimum, and in less than ten minutes you have simple, poached halibut heaven. The tomato mixture is almost like a soup, too. I suppose you could throw cilantro in there, but it is too overpowering.

by Anonymous

reply 79

10/12/2018

[quote]People who think Parmesan comes “in a green can” make me sad.

Those of us who know it doesn't spell it Parmigiano, and generally follow it with Reggiano.

by Anonymous

reply 80

10/12/2018

R73 and R80, if you are mixing it up with mayonnaise and canned artichokes, you don't want to use expensive cheese.

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